Remote control valve



Ilune 21, 1949. J, HI DERBY 2,473,867

REMOTE 'CONTROL VALVE Filed Feb. 28, 1946 2 Sheets-She'et 1 HHH |||||III| INVENTOR JOf//v /V- f/QBY ATTQRNEY June 2l, 1949. J. H. DERBY 2,473,867

REMOTE CONTROL VALVE Filed Feb. 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 21, 1949 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE REMOTE CONTROL VALVE John H. Derby, Scarsdale, N. Y.

Application February 28, 1946, Serial No. 650,803

5 Claims. 1

This invention relates to remote control valves, and particularly to valves, controllable from locations remote therefrom, which are especially suitable for use in controlling the water supply for so-called dry line fire-extinguishing systems. Dry line systems are used in re extinguishing installations in which there is liability to freezing in the winter time as, for example, in the standpipes on ships piers, in the dry line sprinkler systems of unheated warehouses, etc. It is, of course, important, in any valve which is to be interposed between the water main and a dry line iire extinguishing system, that the valve be tight so that Water cannot leak into the dry line, with the resultant liability to freezing; that it be mechanically held in closed position, instead of being maintained by compressed air in the dry line, as in some systems, thus avoiding condensation of moisture from the compressed air, and that, when it is desired that the valve operate, the operation shall be sure and substantially instantaneous.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved remote control valve, particularly adapted for use in controlling the water supply to dry line re extinguishing systems, which has its valve and valve seat elements so constructed and mounted for movement relative to each other that the valve and its seat may be more effectively brought into water-tight relation to each other than in prior constructions; which has the means for locking the valve in its closed or seated condition so arranged and located that substantial hold-down leverage may be obtained,

thus permitting the holding of a relatively high water pressure with a relatively easy trip of the locking means, and which, furthermore, has the parts so constructed and enclosed as to require the removal of an inspection plate, after the valve has operated, before it can be reset, thus insuring inspection of the valve and valve seat, a usual prerequisite to tight closing after substantial water flow.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention aims to provide a remote control valve in which the entire valve locking mechanism is enclosed within the valve housing and only a portion of the trip mechanism extends to the outside of said housing, this construction permitting the use, without substantial increase lin the overall dimentions of the valve housing, of a considerably longer locking lever than in the dry line valve constructions of the prior art, while at the -same time insuring, as hereinabove suggested, a

2 thorough inspection of the valve before resetting it after it has once been operated.

An important feature of the invention, contributing to the certainty of operation of the valve by remote control, is the arrangement of the valve locking lever and the trip mechanism so that, not only will the pull exerted upon the trip mechanism, transmitted thereto through the locking lever from the Water pressure upon the valve, be comparatively small by reason of the power multiplication permitted by the increased length of the lever, but the construction and operation of the trip mechanism itself will be such that, while it holds the valve positively and securely locked in its closed position against all liability to become unlocked through accidental shocks or jars, nevertheless, only a comparatively small and easily effected initial movement of the trip will be required to effect the release of the valve. Another important feature of the invention is the novel arrangement of means for eifecting the initial tripping movement of the lever-retaining means, this means being so constructed that failure to operate, When the tripping means has been actuated by remote control, is practically impossible.

Other important features of the invention are the novel arrangement of the trip means by which a water-tight sealing of the valve housing is insured without interference with the free operation of the trip means; the construction and arrangement of the va'lve to prevent water column reseating thereof and the provision of means for tightening the seating of the valve after it is locked in seated position.

Other objects, important features and advantages of the invention, to which reference has not specifically been made hereinabove, will appear hereinafter when the following description and claims are considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away or shown in section, of a remote control valve for dry line fire extinguishing systems embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional detail of the tripping mechanism showing modified means for securing a, water-tight seal of this machanism in the wall of the valve casing or housing, and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the housing enclosing the automatic trip mechanism.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention the remote control valve is shown as enclosed within a housing 2 having at one end a flange 4 by which it may be attached to a flange 6 threaded upon the end of a pipe 8, constituting a part either of a dry line standpipe or of `a dry line sprinkler system or the like, and having upon its other end a ange I by which it may be connected to a similar flange I2 on connections to the water main or other source of supply for Water to be introduced into the dry line standpipe or dry line sprinkler system wheen needed for fire extinguishing purposes.

There will usually be located between the connection VI2 and the street main or other main' source of water supply proper a suitable hand operated shut on" valve, not shown, for shutting off the main supply when resetting the remote control valve after the system has been used. These connections may also include a water meter and other usual appurtenances to such a system, also not shown, these connections between the remote control valve of the present invention and the water main, as well as the remote control valve itself, being usually protected from freezing in any suitable manner.

In the embodiment of the vinvention herein illustrated the seat for the valve is shown as comprising a bronze ring Ill, inset into the housing 2 about the inlet from the water main and having a smoothly ground seat I6 for the valve IS which has a seat-engaging flange having a likewise smoothly ground face 2i? adapted to be brought into water-tight relation to the ground seat it. The valve I8 has a central'socket 22 in a portion 2li of the valve I8 sufficiently depressed from the main part of the valve I8 so that the bottom of the socket 22 lies below the plane of the valve seat I6. This insures uniform 'distribution of seating pressure. Reenforcing ribs 26 are provided for insuring a stiif overall valve structure.

The socket 22 is designed to receive a hemispherical bearing member 28 tapped to receive the threaded reduced end 3d of an adjusting screw 32 ythreaded through a lever 36 fulcrumed upon a bronze pin 3@ carried by ears 38 cast integral with the housing 2. The screw 32 extends loosely through a central opening in a retaining collar 40 threaded into the upper end of the socket 22 in the valve I8, there being suiicient lost motion between the Screw 32 and the wall of the opening 42 in the collar 4I] to permit such rocking oi the bearing 28 in the socket 22 as is required to secure even seating pressure of the ground face 2i? on the valve seat i6. The screw 32 is provided with a hexagonal head dd to receive a wrench for tightening the valve I8 upon its seat after it has been locked in closed position, as hereinafter more fully described.

It will be seen that the valve carrying and clamping lever 34 is a second class lever and that at its power-applying end it is provided with a lledge or bearing face d6 to cooperate with the bearing face on the short arm i8 of a locking lever fulcrumed upon a bronze pin 59 carried by ears 52 cast integral with the housing 2, the long arm vd of the lastmentioned lever extending upwardly into the casing away from the -vaive i8 and away from the clamping or valve carrying .lever 3d, in order to attain the desired power multiplication for holding a substantial water pressure by means of -a comparatively easily tripped detent.

As herein shown, the fulcrum Eil for the lock ing lever is located diametrically across the valve seat I6 from the fulcrum t for the valve-carrying lever 3d, thus permitting the long arm 5ft of the lever, in its locking and releasing movements,

to swing across the inside of the housing from its yhousing 2.

full line position in Figure 1, in which its outer end is on the valve lever fulcrum side of the housing, to its dotted line position shown in Figure 1, that is, its valve releasing position, in which its outer end is on the locking lever fulcrurn side of the housing. This arrangement of the locking lever, so that it is entirely within the valve housing and so that its long arm may extend length- Wise of the housing, not only permits a conside;- able power multiplication without increase in the overall dimensions of the housing but so iocates the lever and the detent that the valve cannot be re-set and locked, after having once operated, without opening the housing suiiiciently to permit inspection of the valve and valve seat, thus substantially insuring such inspection as is usually necessary after the valve has been operated to avoid leaving upon the valve seat accumulations that might prevent water-tight seating.

At its upper end the lever arm 5d is provided with a detent-receiving notch 5S adapted to receive a detent roller 58 carried on a pivot pin til between fork arms B2 of the detent or trip lever 64 which extends through'a tapered opening 'ist in a thickened portion of the wall oi the valve As herein shown, the detent lever 6d is preferably made of bronze to avoid corrosion and it is sealed in water-tight relation to the housing 2 by a resilient rubber gasket G8 having a sleeve portion molded into tight fitting relation to the lever Sii and locked thereto by integral parts or dowels 1i) thereof extending through transverse openings in the lever Sli and having a flange portion I2 which engages the outer surface oi the housing 2 about the opening sii. The flange 'I2 of the gasket 68 is locked in water-tight relation to the housing by a plate 'it which serves both as a gland for the gasket and as a'support for the release box hereinafter to be described. The plate 'lli is secured in` clamping relation to the gasket flange 'l2 by machine screws iii, there being four of these about the opening t8, the other two not shown being located on a line at right angles to a line through the two shown.

' The resiliency of the rubber gasket 6B, i2, tends to maintain the detent lever 54 in or to restore it to the position shown in Figure 1.

It will be seen that the tapered opening 66 permits the resilient swinging of the cylindrical part of the gasket 68 with the lever 6ft, The lever Eli is fuicrurned on the outer face of the clamping plate ld, the fulcrum comprising a Cylindrical pin 78 extending through the lever 54 and bearing against the outer face of the clamping plate 'it upon each side of the opening Bti in the plate 'I4 through which the lever extends. It will be seen that the opening 80 is somewhat larger in its vertical dimension than the corresponding dimension of the lever ell. This enlargement not only serves to provide for possible .bodily movement of the fulcrurn of the lever 6.1i, which may take place kby reason of the trippingactionimparted thereto -lthe start is concentric withnthe axis of the fulcrum pin '13. It will thus be seen that, as soon as the vtrip lever' 645 lhas been rocked suficiently about the axis of the fulcrum pin 18 to bring the bearing surface of the roller 58 into engagement with the curved part 82 of the detent notch, further movement of the roller, by reason of the curva ture just described, will take place substantially automatically, that is, with little force required to eiect the relative releasing movements. It will also be noted that the upper end of the lever 64 is also provided with a curved or cam edge 84 to facilitate resetting.

To effect the tripping of the detent lever 54 by remote control, a weight 86, which may be made of any suitable material of high specic gravity, such, for example, as lead, to give it sufficient weight without too much bulk, is connected by a bolt 88, cast into or otherwise secured to the Weight 86, to a yoke 9U which embraces the outer end of the trip lever 54 and which is provided with slots 92 in its side members through which extends a pin 94 carried in the end of the lever 64. The slots 92 in the side members of the yoke 90 provide a lost motion connection between the weight 89 and the outer arm of the lever 64 for impact purposes.

The weight 86 is guided in its vertical movements in a housing 95 supported on the valve housing 2 by brackets 98 and |99. A rubber cushion |0| in the bottom of the housing 96 acts as a sound deadener and shock absorber. Extending through an opening |02 in a cap |94 screwed upon the upper end of the housing 99 is an eye bolt |06 screwed into the upper end of the yoke 90 and having a ring l 9 connected to its eye |68. The ring IIB is adapted to hook over the short arm ||2 of the outer bellcrank H4 of a series of multiplying bellcrank levers forming part of a release box such as shown in U. S. Letters Patent to Thomas G. Collings No. 2,174,969, granted October 3, 1939, to which reference may be had for a detailed description of the inner mechanism of the release box. It will be undersood, however, that the invention is not restricted to a release box having all of the details of construction shown in the said Letters Patent and that other forms of release mechanism may equally Well be employed, although the Letters Patent referred to show a preferred form of release box.

As more fully set forth in said Letters Patent to Collings No, 2,174,969. an electromagnet in the release box, in an electric circuit extending to the point oi remote control, when suitably energized actuates a trip device engageable with the innermost of a series of multiplying levers Imaking up the retaining and release mechanism in the -box and permits the outside lever ||4 to rock about its fulcrurn H6 in the direction to release the link Ill from the arm l2, the lever I4 being urged in the releasing direction, when the train of levers is tripped, by a spring H8 located between it and the box cover |24, the spring ||8 being under tension when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1.

The release box housing |22 is provided with screw-receiving ears |24 by which it may be secured tothe plate 14 by machine screws |26. To prevent tampering with the release box and trip mechanism, the whole release mechanism, together with the cap end of the housing 99, is enclosed within a protective housing made up of two parts, |28 and |39, hinged to the plate 74 at |32 and E34, so that their outer curved ends may be swung on the vertical hinges |32 and 34 into and out of overlapping relation to each other. The outer curved parts of the two housing mem bers |23, are provided with opposed lugs or ears |36 or |38 having holes |40 therethrough to receive any suitable padlock for locking the housing in closed condition.

In order that the valve I8 may not be reseated by the action of a residual column of Water in the normally dry standpipe or other dry line connection, after it has been opened to admit Water to the standpipe or dry line connection and after the main pressure has again been shut off, the housing 2 is so constructed that, as the valve is forced open by the water pressure, it is thrown beyond its dead center into such position that there is no danger of any Water column, which might remain in the dry pipe temporarily after operation, causing the valve again to become seated. As shown in Figure 1, an enlargement A is provided in the housing which permits the valve lever 34 to swing beyond its vertical or dead center relation to the fulcrum pin 36 into a position in which it is outside the line of flow of the water in either direction, a rubber cushion |42 being provided in this enlarged part A of the housing against which the head 44 of the bolt 32 can strike and on which it rests so long as the valve is open. A similar rubber cushion |44 is provided to receive the impact of the lever arm 54 when it is swung into its valve releasing position.

As is usual in this type of valve, a drain opening |46 is provided in the lower part of the housing 2 to permit the draining ofi of any water that may be left in the system after operation or which may have entered it from any other cause, this drain opening being usually connected with a standard ball drip that acts as a check valve when there is a sudden increase in pressure and thus in no way interferes with the operation of the system.

From the foregoing description the operation of the device will readily be understood.

Remote control of the valve may be effected in diierent Ways: For example, in a dry standpipe system having hose nipples on the standpipes and local valves for controlling the ow of water into the particular nipple or nipples used, a circuit through the release box might be closed by a switch operated by a slight turn of the valve which controls the ilowto the hose nipple, thus automatically supplying the normally dry standpipe with water as soon as the valve to the hose nipple has been manually opened. In other cases the supply of water may be actuated by thermostatic circuit controlling means which would operate either upon a certain rate of rise of temperature or at a xed temperature level to close the circuit through the release box and thus supply Water to a dry line provided with sprinkler heads. In some cases the remote control of the release box might be eiected through switches located in break glass boxes.

In any case as soon as the electromagnet in the release box has been energized sufficiently to operate the trip device that effects the eventual release of the lever l I4, the link H0 will drop oft' the short arm I|2 of this outer bellcrank of the release box and the weight 86 will thus be released to pull down the yoke 9B until the upper ends of the slots 92 impinge upon the pin S4 in the trip lever 94 and rock this lever about the axis of its fulcrum pin 18, thus raising the roller 58 in the notch y56 of the long arm 54 until it rides upon the curve 82, when the movement of the lever 64 brought about by the action of the Weight 86 will be augmented by the cam action of the curved face 82 on the valve I8 and valve carrying lever 34. Thus the lever arm 54 will be swung over against the cushion |44 with considerable force as the valve is forced open by the water pressure. The valve I8 together with its carrying lever 34 will be swung into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, with the head 44 of the screw 32 resting against the cushion |42.

The aforementioned parts of the valve mechanisrn will remain in the position just described until further flow of water is not needed, when the water may be shut off from the System by means of any suitable hand operated valve interposed between the main and the remote control valve, after which the parts can be moved again into the position shown in Figure 1. Since these parts are all enclosed within the housing 2, it will be seen that it will be necessary to open the housing before the valve can be reseated and locked. To permit this reseating and at the same time to allow such inspection of the surfaces of the seat and of the valve as to insure water-tight reseating, the housing is provided on the front side in Figure 1 with a removable cover |41 which is provided with openings |48 to receive studs |50 on the housing 2 so that it may be secured in water-tight relation to the' housing by nuts |52.

A suitable gasket |54 is preferably provided between the cover |41 and the housing 2.

The cover |41 having been removed, it will be seen that all of the parts of the valve mechanism are in position for inspection and that after the operator has assured himself of the cleanness of the valve and seat surfaces he can swing the valve back into the position shown in full lines in Figure 1 and then swing the lever arm 54 into 'the position also shown in full lines in Figure 1, the cam edge 54 on the end of the lever arm 54 serving to raise the roller end of the detent lever 64 and thus to permit the roller again to spring into detent relation to the notch 56 in the outer end of the lever arm 54. After the locking lever has been brought into locking relation to the valve carrying lever 34 the screw 32 may be turned down to tighten the valve I8 securely upon its seat I6, with the faces I6 and 20 in Water tight relation to each other.

1n the modication of the invention shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, the sealing of the trip lever 64 in water-tight relation to the housing 2 is effected by the use of a Sylphon bellows |56 irlstead of the gasket t2 shown in Figure 1. The Sylphon bellows |56 is secured in water-tight sealing relation at one end to the inner arm of the lever S4 and at its other end is secured in water-tight sealing relation to the outer surface of the housing 2 about the opening 56.

It will be seen that the remote control valve of the present invention avoids the objections to such valves as heretofore constructed and that it provides a substantially foolproof means for remote control of the input of water intov a dry line fire extinguishing system.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A remote control valve 0f the type in which a valve housing, adapted to' be interposed between the water main and a normally dry pipe, has therein a valve seat on the inlet from the main, a cooperating valve, a locking lever located erra tirely within said housing and fulcrumed therein to swing between valve locking and valve release. ing positions, a latch for positively engaging and holding said locking lever in valve locking position, and means for-,tripping said latch including a weight and release mechanism trippable by remote control for holding said weight in its potential trip relation to the latch, characterized by the fact that the latch comprises a single lever extending through, fulcrumed upon the outside of and directly trippable from outside said valve housing, that said latch carries a roller at its inner end and that the locking lever has a notch in is latch-engaging end cooperating with said roller to latch the lever in valve locking position.

2. A remote control valve according to claim 1 in which the lever notch has the retaining portion of its wall substantially tangential to the latch fulcrurn and a portion continuous with the retaining portion which is substantially concentric with the latch fulcrum.

3. A remote control valve according to claim 1 in which the latch-engaging end of the locking lever arm is provided with a cam cooperating with the latch roller to move said latch into latching relation to said lever.'

4. A remote control valve according to claim 1 in which the latch has about it a Agasket serving to seal the opening through which it extends to the outside of said housing, said gasket being lo cated on the latch between the latch fulcrum and its lever-engaging end.

5. A remote control valve according to claim 1 in which a gasket, serving to seal the opening through which the latchextends to the outside of the casing, is constituted by a Sylphon bellows, the bellows part of which surrounds said latch between its fulcrum and its lever-engaging end.

J OHN H. DERBY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 810,040 Derby Jan. 16, 1906 1,189,805 Garrett July 4, 1916 1,942,823 Lowe et al. Jan. 9, 1934 2,251,422 Rider Aug. 5', 1941 2,400,372 Rider May 14, 1946 

